Valkyrie Funds Joins Race for SEC Approval as It Files Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF

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SEC Flooded With Spot Bitcoin ETF Applications as Valkyrie Funds Steps Into the Ring

Numerous market players are vying for the SEC’s approval of a spot bitcoin ETF. This rush for approval began after Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, filed to offer a spot bitcoin ETF with the SEC. To date, the SEC has not approved any spot bitcoin ETFs and has rejected several applications over recent years. Companies are permitted to provide futures-based ETFs, and several debuted in the last quarter of 2021, including Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF.

On June 21, 2023, Valkyrie submitted an application to the SEC for its spot bitcoin ETF named “Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund.” The ticker symbol will be “BRRR,” and it will utilize CME Group’s CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. “The trust intends to list the shares on the Nasdaq stock market,” states Valkyrie’s registration. Concurrently, when Valkyrie filed its spot bitcoin ETF application, bitcoin (BTC) leaped above $30K after dropping to just above $25K in mid-June. Valkyrie’s filing also comes one week after Blackrock’s submission.

Since Blackrock’s filing, BTC prices climbed even higher, and both Invesco and Wisdomtree also filed applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. For some reason — amid lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase — these investment firms think it is an opportune moment to apply with the U.S. securities regulator. The wave of spot bitcoin ETF filings also coincides with the launch of EDX, a crypto exchange supported by Charles Schwab, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Citadel Securities, among others.

Thus far, the U.S. securities watchdog has not approved any spot bitcoin exchange-traded products. In early 2022, the SEC denied Fidelity’s request to list the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust. The SEC said it was rejected due to an inability to “prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts” or “protect investors.” Fidelity’s filing maintained that the SEC’s focus on “potential manipulation of bitcoin ETPs” was overstated, arguing that “manipulation concerns have been sufficiently mitigated.”